Facts of Life cast member most hated by fired first season cast-members.

Nancy McKeon probably. She was brought on after the others were fired.

Has there ever been an E True Hollywood story about the show or interviews with the former cast? I'm sure it must've been devastating to those fired.

Lisa. Natalie was fat and Tootie was Black, so they had a legitimate reason to stay. But Lisa could have easily been dropped for another girl.

They were all cunts!

I'm sure there must've been a lot of surprise in reaction to Mindy Cohn being kept on instead of some of the pretty girls.

Weren't both Dana Plato and Kim Richards on the pilot episode?

[quote]Facts of Life cast member most hated by fired first season cast-members

Charlotte

Lisa Whelchel was interchangeable with at least 2 of the other girls, one of whom went on to star in the hit comedy "Zapped" with Willie Aames and Scott Baio.

I wonder if Charlotte had any say on who stays and who goes?

No, Lisa Whelchel wasn’t interchangeable. She was gorgeous and had that it factor charm. That would be like stating anyone could play Suzanne Sugarbaker while overlooking Delta Burke’s talents.

Charlotte Rae pretty much discovered Mindy Cohn. Mindy owes everything to her.

R2, there's a behind the scenes doc on Tubi.

R10 MARY!

But, I agree with you. What I meant to say was theoretically it didn’t HAVE to be Lisa, as a few other girls also fit the build of the pretty one. But, it HAD to be her because she was the best. Thats why the other girls should hate her, because she was selected.

Although I recall S1 did have a tomboy character, so I can see her hating Nancy.

R9: Charlotte was asked about that in one of those Truth Behind The Sitcom Scandals/E! True Hollywood Stories type shows. She said she was not consulted, nor would she *want* to be consulted, because she was fond of all the girls.

Molly Ringwald was probably envied when she became a superstar in the 80s.

Yes there was r2. One of the directors was asked about Mindy Cohn’s post Facts of Life career and he said, “she didn’t want to be the funny fat girl anymore.” I am sure Mindy loved that.

For R2:

R15 Thats the correct answer.

Another:

Molly Ringwald was the only Facts of Life cast member to bare her breasts.

R21, lies upon lies!

R11 The story of how Rae discovered Natalie is at the 5 minute mark of the video posted on R17.

It is very sweet. I have to wonder it part of it is that Charlotte saw herself in that fat little Jewish girl with the strange voice.

I hated ALL those cunts!

R22 Gross.

Not only did Jenny O'Hara go on to star in "My Sister Sam" but she was phenomenal in the movie "Devil."

There was this ridiculous episode of Wonder Woman in which Julie Ann Haddock guest starred

The video at R17 at the 14 minute mark pretty much confirms what I said at R3. Five of the girl’s personalities didn’t seem different enough, and that included Blair. Lisa made the cut over the other 4, so I think it is safe to say she is the one they would all be jealous of.

Lisa got fat!

Considering the fact that Julie Piekarski worked with Lisa years before on the new Mickey Mouse Club she probably despised Lisa the most. I've noticed how Julie would try to upstage Lisa in a lot of scenes on FOL. Lisa was a natural, and Julie just didn't have it.

I was actually shocked that Kim Fields got cast in the first place. She was, and always has been, a terrible actress.

Everyone always hates the pretty, popular one.

Molly said on WWHL that Mindy was kind of a bitch, so I voted for her.

I don't believe that for a moment. A- Molly is the cunt of all cunts and has a lifetime membership in the Society of Cuntitude. B- This was Mindy's first job and she was plucked out of obscurity, had no idea what she was doing, was way less attractive than all the other girls and probably terrified as shit. She was likely the nicest and most cooperative of all the girls that first season.

[quote] I was actually shocked that Kim Fields got cast in the first place. She was, and always has been, a terrible actress.

Kim definitely memorized her lines, but she always said her lines in the exact same, earnest way.

I think of all the "pretty girls" Blair was the only character with any sort of personality that made her stand out - the pretty, snobby rich girl.

R34 I also call bullshit. Mindy is still friends with all of the other women, and even still talks to Nancy on the phone regularly. She is best friends with Angelia Jolie who would never be friends with someone in such a different fame class unless she had a good heart.

Molly is just upset because she fucked up her first foray into acting, then hit the jack pot before squandering it all by passing up good role after good role.

Kim Fields was 9 when she got cast on the show and was a very cute kid. She was still pretty cute at the end of season one, so I'm pretty sure her place on the show was safe (she was a child actor, so of course, her acting was of the worst 'child acting' variety, i.e. shouting her lines and indicating emotion). Cohn was pretty good at delivering a funny line (she certainly thought so given how often she made herself break in scenes), and she and Tootie had already been paired off in the first season so they made a good match.

That clip of Julie Ann Haddock on Wonder Woman was interesting as going into the show's run, she might have had the best CV, having appeared with Robert DuVall and Blythe (Don't blame me, blame her father!') Danner in The Great Santini. Haddock and Ringwald were the other two 'younger' girls along with Fields and Cohn, and so they were edged out. That left Schactner, Piekarski and Whelchel. Whelchel was HOT in the first season and Blair was much more a 'bad girl' then, and so if you watch those episodes from season one, why she was chosen over the pretty, but dull, Schactner and the 'Karen in training' Piekarski.

I'm now wondering how little OP has to do that he has the time to often wonder about this.

R39 Its DL. We have mused about worse.

R6: FOL's pilot was an episode of Diff'rent Strokes (a "backdoor" pilot) titled The Girls' School -- about Kimberly's prep school. So, yes, Dana Plato was in it. Kim Richards was not in it, but she appeared in a couple other Diff'rent Strokes episode as Kimberly's friend, Ruthie.

However, I'm pretty sure that's Laurie Hendler -- the middle daughter on Gimme A Break -- in the background (big-ass glasses).

Kim Richards played Ruthie, Larry’s daughter from Hello Larry. Larry and Mr. Drummond were army buddies.

The Facts of Life had one of the best revamps from first to second season along with A Different World. The changes they made were for the better.

I don't like the first season of The Facts of Life because I find the other girls extraneous. Even Molly Ringwald, who I loved in the John Hughes movies, is annoying.

They cut the right girls.

George Clooney.

Remember the episode where Blair sees Mr. Bradley shirtless in the stables and develops a crush on him (i.e. yanks her clit for the final time ever to a man)?

Flash flood underneath my knickers!

R43 Mamas Family as well, but that is 2nd to 3rd season.

Melrose Place too, when they got rid of Amy Locane and that other one.

I completely agree R43. As for George Clooney, Patrick Cassidy, Pam Adlon, Mac Astin, etc....Kim Fields made a good point in one of those Cast Confessions/Behind the Sitcom Scandals interviews. The producers got rid of all those first-season girls (and Lawlor & O'Hara) because there were just "too many characters" (love Mindy's comment: "It was like Carnivale!"). But then, they turned around & started adding others in the later seasons.....

Blllllllaaaaaiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

Kim was cute, but her acting wasn't!

Some of the girls were bitter as hell they weren’t chosen, I think the actress who played SueAnne in particular. It was surprising because she wasn't selected because she seemed like a co-lead with LW. Getting canned was actually the best thing that ever happened to Molly Ringwald.

I actually preferred the first season. It was sort of cozy, if that makes. I found Jo abrasive and never liked her character that much.

Cerebral Palsey would be a good cover for a raging alcoholic.

Rewatching it now, Lisa seems to shine as the most talented actress. Nancy McKeon is fine but isn’t very subtle. Mindy got better. Kim just stayed Kim.

Julie was an entertainment reporter in St. Louis for a hot second.

To anyone reading this thread who hasn't already watched this -- you're welcome.

Kim was a terrible dramatic actress when it called for Tootie to "emote" (see: Jermaine Jackson, temporary deafness, etc). But she really was a good comedic actress for her age. As Eve Brandstein (casting director) said, she just knew how to deliver a line for laugh. I think particularly of the scene, in The New Girl, when Tootie started in on Blair about first-person pronouns in the police station. "I" vs. "We". That shit was funny!

The temporary deafness plot is probably the worst very special episode of any show ever. Who the hell in the writing room thought “Tootie goes deaf” was a good idea.

Lisa was great as Blair. They were all kind of one-note, though. I'd say Lisa was the best in her role, then Mindy, then Jo, then Kim Fields.

Kim Richards seems like she's not even a contemporary of the FOL girls. Kim R. seems older than them.

Didn't some of the girls come back for guest appearances later in the show? That must have been awkward.

Everyone but Molly, who was filming The Pick Up Artist.

Felice Schacter is the most bitter. She lost out to Dana Plato as Kimberly on Diff'rent Strokes, then was promised a meaty role on The Facts of Life as compensation, but ended up being the least interesting character and was the first one fired.

R2 There was this, which was halfway there but still decent.

Who picked Tootie? She was the breakout of the first season and even had her own catch phrase.

I was 11 or 12 when the pilot aired and I was scandalized that they went there with the dyke accusations..

R63 I can’t remember…was it “whatcha talking bout Willis,” “ooooh I’m gonna tell mama,” or “dyn o mite?”

Mindy has said that the “Lost Girls” from S1 handled the retooling of the show graciously and there was no awkwardness or bad blood when Felice, Julie, and Julie-Anne did their guest spots after being let go as series regulars.

Felice and Mindy actually shared the same manager (Felice’s mom) and Mindy is still in touch with Felice’s former child actress sister, Simone, who was in Little Darlings. Simone married David Levinson and is now an ultra wealthy NYC society matron.

Lisa was kept because she had the best hair. I'd bet money on that.

R65: It was "You are in troubbbbbbble!"....(very drawn out)

I've heard a couple female sports broadcasters use that phrase/mimick her (Malika Andrews or Monica McNutt?) while talking about NBA teams on the verge of elimination.

Julie Anne was the last one fired, a bit later than the others. Them bringing in Nancy McKeon probably sealed the deal since her character was similar to Jo, but Nancy stood out more. Blair and Jo's lesbian-like chemistry made Cindy seems like a total asexual tomboy in comparison.

They were right cutting down the cast though and were spot on with their choices.

R66 Simone was also on that Aim commercial with Meg Ryan that was shown in another thread.

Is she a Trumper like her bitter “I graduated from an Ivy League school “ sister? Is the mom still alive?

Also, I should say, I have met Simone Levinson without every realizing (until pointed above) that was the former Simone Schacter, because they absolutely look like two different people.

Oh, they absolutely had to keep Lisa. They had to introduce Jo and Blair was the perfect foil to Jo. And I doubt if they hadn't cut all the first season girls and added Jo that it would've lasted for nine seasons.

R72 they got that whole idea from Little Darlings, which came out in theatres during the first season.

I always found Whelchel to be the better actress of the two, btw - whatever was McKeon’s “technique” was incredibly hokey.

It was smart to focus on just four girl characters. Think about all of the TV shows with multiple kids (except Brady Bunch): Partridge Family, even Family Ties. At least a couple of kids end up not very developed, character-wise.

I think Simone Levinson looks a lot like she did as a kid, just grown up and past the awkward stage that a lot of kids go through.

The wrong four, r74! What could have been…

[quote] It was smart to focus on just four girl characters. Think about all of the TV shows with multiple kids (except Brady Bunch): Partridge Family, even Family Ties.

Huh? Family Ties had 3 kids, just like Diff'rent Strokes, just like Gimme A Break!, just like Growing Pains, just like The Hogan Family, just like Charles in Charge, just like Blossom. 3 was the magic number for sitcom kids. Not sure why you're grouping it with The Brady Bunch and Partridge Family.

Is Lis Whelchel a cousin to Lens Dunham?

R77, not that poster, but technically they added a 4th kid to both Growing Pains and Family Ties. I don’t see it as excessive either, but adding kids is always a bust.

[quote] Huh? Family Ties had 3 kids

I was thinking about the Tina Yothers character.

I know people who worked on the show and everyone was very sweet except for Mindy who was an outright cunt. Lisa, despite her conservatism, was super nice to everyone. Kim and Nancy were already pros and weren't a bit of trouble. Maybe because Mindy was the least experienced is why she was so nasty to everyone.

[quote] Cerebral Palsey would be a good cover for a raging alcoholic.

In the episode where Tootie spreads rumors of Mrs. Garrett being a drunk I always thought Mrs. G walking in with a shirt that read "I'm not drunk. I have cerebral palsey" would've been the greatest punchline.

I can totally believe Mindy is a bitch. She gives off those vibes. I always wondered if the stories of her being Angelina and Brad’s kids godmother were true. I have never seen them together or even heard of speaking of each other. It is totally bizarre.

I could watch the actor playing Mrs Garrett in r55’s spoof all day! Hilarious! The actresses playing Jo and Natalie were funny too. Was that Kate MCKinnon as Blair? She was surprisingly weak and nothing like Lisa Whelchel.

R70 I don't know about Felice, but Julie Piekarski is a Trumpster.

It must have been awkward having the lost girls return in S2. Mindy’s constant smiling probably made it seem like she was mocking them or something.

R85 oh she’s friends with FB friends of mine. She is. And is a total cunt about it. I think the fact that she knows she doesn’t fit the typical Trumper mold (ie white trash) gives her a haughty superiority about it that makes her even more insufferable.

Molly really was the weakest of the girls in S1.

I do wish they kept Mr. Bradley who I thought was kind of hot.

Has Mindy ever had a significant other?

R87 She does actually fit the mold. She looks like a total Fox News cunt. I thought that the first time I saw a recent photo of her.

[quote] I do wish they kept Mr. Bradley who I thought was kind of hot.

That would've been too creepy with him lurking around as headmaster while those girls are going through puberty.

R30, I somehow misremembered Molly Ringwald as being part of the New Mickey Mouse Club of 1977. Maybe my mistook her for Allison Forte.

Felice lives in NYC where voting status is public record. She's not registered as either Dem or Rep, but rather other. I'd guess she just votes for both parties.

R92 Molly was in the Broadway musical Annie. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

Out of all the first season girls I've always hated Julie P most. Her smugness along with those big buck teeth and gummy smile.

R21 Wasn't Charlotte Rae topless in the movie Hair? I vaguely remember a scene with her swinging drunk from chandeliers with her tits out.

It's a shame that Nancy's brother Phillip has died. The would've been great sharing a role as a pre- and post-op character in a movie about a trans person.

R84 That is Paul Vogt. Ms. Garret is one of his signature characters, and he also played her on that short lived TV show where they reacted famous TV shows, and I think he played her on MadTV as well.

I think he is one of the underrated MadTV actors, the funniest one on the later seasons, and is always hilarious when playing a woman.

[quote] Charlotte Rae pretty much discovered Mindy Cohn.

She was wise. She knew Mindy could deliver the heavy emotion. No one will ever forget how real she made it seem after she was attacked by the serial rapist and recounted it right after, saying, "Mrs. Garrett, I was almost home." She was robbed of the Emmy that year.

I'm surprised Mindy's so unpleasant.

I can believe she's friends with Angelina Jolie. AJ is probably friends with women who aren't competition, looks-wise, for her.

Mindy is great. She's pleasant but she's not a pushover, and doesn't take shit from people.

I think that’s true r100. Ang is also close with Jillian Armenante.

Mindy is somehow friends with a lot of wealthy gays, per her Instagram . Do they pay her way in exchange for gossip about Lisa Whelchel, or is she a filthy rich bitch?

The subject of Pitt-Jolie was off limits that night.

R104 Mindy looks awful in bangs.

[quote] AJ is probably friends with women who aren't competition, looks-wise, for her.

She's setting the bar pretty low with Mindy.

Molly hated Mindy the most (based on WWHL interview).

Julie Ann hated Nancy the most (tomboy replaced by butch)

Felice hated Lisa the most (pretty vs pretty)

Julie P hated Kim the most (future Trump supporter - need we say more)

When you think about it, they did keep the most talented cast members from the first season. Julie Piekarski was particularly bad. Even Molly Ringwald was lackluster, though I will admit they didn't give her much to do at all. And Nancy McKeon was probably more talented than the lot of them.

I will say Tootie was def on the bubble. Could've gone either way with her.

They chose whom they chose due to potential storytelling and character development.

The new producers were going for more realism and message based episodes. They already knew they were bringing in a poor girl on scholarship so what better source of conflict than to pair her against the one character who came from obscene wealth.

Then Tootie had potential for ethnic based stories and Natalie for "real" girl realness.

Felice is a vile Trumper just like Julie P.

Charlotte Rae.

I still don't buy the stories that Mindy was a cunt the first season of FOL. There's just no way. Tell me she's a massive cooze now, or 3 years into the run or any time in between, I'll consider it could be true, but as explained upthread, there is no way she would have been a rude asshole in the position she was in. No experience, not good looking, first role, up against all working child actresses/stars, recommended by the star of the series, who would have looked really bad if her protege was causing trouble... it just doesn't track.

[quote] Molly hated Mindy the most (based on WWHL interview).

What is WWHL?

Kim Fields should have been fired and replaced by a black girl who could act and didn't have an annoying speech impediment.

I hope you're not accusing DL posters of making up stories, R111!

Mindy posts here, you know.

I think Molly Ringwald sang as a featured guest on The New Mickey Mouse Club during Showtime Day (Friday episodes, which were shot at Disneyland). So, yeah, she appeared on the show, but she was not an actual Mouseketeer.

Mindy was like 12 or 13 or maybe even younger when she started and had no previous experience. I don’t buy for she a minute she was a mean girl during S1. Smacks of antisemitism if you ask me.

R111: I think it's total bullshit as well, because I knew Mindy when she attended Westlake.

I wouldn't pretend to know her well -- I was a couple years behind her (and she wasn't around much until Feb/March) -- but I knew her. One of my best friends had an older sister who was very close to Mindy. She was totally cool when she was Westlake. There was no bitch in Mindy... at least not as teenager. She did not act like she was hot-shit, or a "star" (which plenty of other girls did just because their parents were famous). She just went to class, attended her friends' sporting events, and behaved like anyone else.

Mindy Cohn is genuinely NICE PERSON. Fuck anyone who says otherwise.

Yep that’s her. Total cunt (AND, even worse, thinks she’s “smart” because she went to Brown).

R33 / R107 Do you have a link to that Molly WWHL full episode? I'd love to hear that - searched but can't find it.

[quote] I don’t buy for she a minute she was a mean girl during S1.

Cunt!

R121 like Molly Ringwald was such a nice well adjusted person.

Who slept with both John Hughes AND Warren Beatty when she was well under age.

Now that she’s no longer a bigger star than those girls she’s bitter.

I love Mindy - she seems like a really cool person

Wait, what R122?

My dream lineup would be Blair, Sue Anne, Cindy and Natalie.

Also worth pointing out, re: Molly & Mindy: The first season of FOL was just 13 episodes. They spent maybe three months together??? Mindy wasn't in the backdoor pilot episode of Diff'rent Strokes I'll bet that's what irked Molly about Mindy. That Mindy just came outta nowhere, with no experience, and she was retained.

R118, how nice of you to join us Mindy. Tell us, why did the crew nickname you "BB" for "Big Bitch"?

Fuck off, R127. I'm not Mindy, but you knew that. You've posted four times on Datalounge?? Well, four times under whatever account you're currently posting under.....

But I am curious....why are you taking shots at Mindy?

Molly wasn't exactly being cruel about Mindy in that WWHL interview...both of them would've been low on the totem pole and it is possible that Mindy with her low status tried to pull rank on Molly with her low status. It happens all the time with teenage girls at the bottom of the pecking order...

R128, how would I know you aren't BB, especially after you know so much about the production? And after all, who else on DL would defend that fat cunt but Mindy herself?

R115 She HAS posted here but I don’t think she is a regular, especially since DL has been taken over by trolls.

I mean, I could see Mindy having a slight bully phase. I recall in grade school, there was a type of girl with a certain heft who could be a bully.

Poor Mindy. We called her character Fat-alie. We were 10.

A great thrill was meeting someone at college who could do a spot-on Cousin Jeri impression. I knew we’d be friends.

Remember that very special episode where Blair caught Cousin Geri going down on Jo?

People thought her anger towards Geri was discovering she was a lesbian and being revolted seeing all that drool and quim on her face.

But actually she was JEALOUS!

Mrs. Garrett set her right. "Look Blay-uh, a woman's sugar walls are to be enjoyed by all. Feeling a bit peckish? Ehh???"

R115 There has been no concrete proof of Mindy Cohn ever posting here. For all we know I could be Molly Ringwald.

Really, R135? You poor thing.

I ended up going down a Facts of Life rabbithole last night because of you bitches.

The above post at R138 might be, officially, THE most DL post I've ever posted

It’s kind of hard to watch now. The only interesting parts are the lesbian subtexts with Blair and Jo.

Rewatching from the beginning on Tubi.

2 episodes in...

*Both episodes have been Blair-centric

*Tootie & Natalie are paired up in Ep 2 and really driving the comedy

It's no wonder these 3 were chosen.

Cindy is dull, Molly is annoying, Sue Ann is awkward and Nancy is a total non-entity.

Am I the only one who things Molly Parker is a little cutie? I love her crazy adorable, eccentric little outfits

Ep 3

Blair, Tootie & Natalie are getting the majority of lines ...and laughs

Tootie's delivery is excruciatingly on the nose, but it's perfection

So Sue Ann, Molly, Nancy, Tootie and Natalie are sitting on the couch discussing Mr. Garrett's return.

Sue Ann, Molly & Nancy are just saying exposition while Tootie & Natalie get all the jokes.

It is really interesting to watch this show from the beginning and see how it metamorphisized into what it became.

Are you in it to win it, R145?

R146 you tried

Now Ep 4 is where it gets interesting...

It is obviously written as a Nancy-Sue Ann centric episode about IQ levels but all the 2 girls are doing is whining.

The jokes (again) are being divided between Blair, Tootie & Natalie.

There is a scene where it is just SA and Nancy bickering back and forth and it is just lame and filled with moments of dead air. Then Blair waltzes in are delivers some jokes and it picks right back up.

Best jokes...

Blair says she knows she can't be the smartest because she has looks, money and everything else going for her. Then Tootie chimes in, "You're right...it's NOT you."

Then Tootie reveals to Natalie they have the same IQ level and Natalie goes "I always knew we were soul sisters!"

I remember that entire scene vividly!!! Whoa.

Ep 6 and the tally is:

Ep 1: Blair episode

Ep 2: Blair episode

Ep 3: Tootie episode

Ep 4: Sue Ann-Nancy episode

Ep 5: Tootie episode

Ep 6: Blair episode

Is Blair the overwhelming star player of the show from the outset?

It would appear Blair followed closely by Tootie.

I'm on the Emily Dickinson one. Tootie is blackmailing Blair into being her "white maid."

Just checked out the remaining episodes on IMDB

Ep 7: Blair-Sue Ann episode

Ep 8: Blair episode

Ep 9: Blair-Tootie episode

Ep 10: Blair-Natalie episode

Ep 11: Sue Ann-Cindy episode

Ep 12: Molly episode

Ep 13: Blair-Sue Ann episode

I'm shocked how the other girls didn't know their days were numbered!

I kind of wish I was with you binging Facts of Life right now, R153. Are you snacking? Lights on, or just the glow of the screen? Chair, sofa or bed? Bring me into your world.

LOL, R154.

No snacking. Sipping a Diet Coke (caffeine free), glow of the TV and desktop screens, office chair at desk.

I'm just marveling how 98% of the time the other 4 girls are literally just on screen to set up one-liners and jokes for Blair, Tootie & Natalie and the adults. These characters serve no purpose other than to service the other three.

I haven't watched season 1 in probably 30+ years (when I was a kid) so it is fascinating re-watching this.

Yes I went down the rabbit hole a bit last night and I intend to watch more soon. I haven't rewatched FoL since I was a kid, either. But it's all so vivid, man. One thing I will say in defense of the extra girls, is that, it wouldn't make sense for a school to only have four girls in it.

See, this is what I'm talking about. Molly's parents are divorcing so eventhough it centers around her, they literally 86'ed Nancy & Cindy for Spring Break to have Molly surrounded by Blair, Tootie & Natalie as comic relief. Sue Ann is still there too but she is constantly positioned away from the other 3 and only serves to act as the "Jo" to Blair.

Yes and Blair really steals the show when she has her one on one with Molly. Oof. I watched that one last night. Choked me up I must admit.

I'm just curious how much of this is just organic or producer/director manipulation.

Sue-Ann and Cindy Lou and whoever else, they are the set-up girls, and there's the punch line girls: Blair, Tootie and Natalie. It's pretty straightforward. Why they pruned all the set-up girls is a question mark to me. But hey, it worked for them. Then they brought on Jo as a wild card after that, and it gelled.

And somehow an episode centering on Sue Ann's crash dieting becomes all about Blair and Natalie.

I watched the video at R121. Sounds like Jon Cryer thought that Molly and Andrew McCarthy were "mean girls" during the filming of Pretty in Pink. Molly says they (she & McCarthy) were just trying to help Cryer get angry, get into character. What a bitch.

I learned from the best.

Blair was gorgeous on season 1 (I often forget that) but she really wasn’t all that past the first few episodes of season 2 (I mean , of course/she always always all American cute/pretty, but not a knock out. The weight of course and the cheap dye jobs didn’t help). Always loved her though and she was a stand out always.

R160 Actually, they didn’t use focus groups. Instead they brought in two female TV producers to help salvage the shows. Their main areas of advice were 1. Get Tootie off the skates, 2. Stop having the girls dress in such skimpy outfits and 3. Cut the cast. The two women thought that a lot of the girls were blending together and suggested that the roles that were similar to Blair get cut.

[quote] Instead they brought in two female TV producers to help salvage the shows

From One Day at a Time, no less (I think it taped next door).

Were they a lesbian couple? I definitely got that vibe.

I seem to recall Helen Hunt being on an episode or 2 during the first season.

I still wanna know why the other three girls were separated from Lisa Whelchel at last year’s Norman Lear birthday celebration and didn’t even stop to say ‘hi’. WTF, girls?

Posted on another FOL thread.

Mindy Cohn posted here once about 14 years ago and ever since then we've had people who constantly post shit about her when the topic comes up, thinking she's still reading the board and it'll upset her.

What proof is there that was actually Mindy?

R169 This is the million dollar question right here.

Mindy is good friends with Josh Kilmer-Purcell, who was a very prolific poster here in the early aughts.

R173 and?

That cunt Josh introduced her to DL r174

There was a similar show in 1981 called The Dorothy Loudon Show. Same premise. The way Louden mugs *mightve* been too much for TV.

There was a tough tomboy character named Frankie played by Linda Mantz. I've long suspected she may have inspired the producers of FOL to bring in Jo. Two tomboys with Brooklyn accents and male first names.

Natalie. She was too fat for television.

Actually the show was called Dorothy, and it was 1979, so the timeliness fits.

*Timeline

Damn it! I HATE that spellcheck on my phone changes shit without telling me!

I would have expected the Loudon project would have been the one people would be banking on to succeed as Loudon was as famous as she was ever going to get with Annie and Linda Manz was just off Days of Heaven...Two holdovers from the New Mickey Mouse Club, the runner up for Dana Plato's part on Diffrent Strokes along with Julie Ann 'Blythe Danner played my mother but I'm nothing like Gwyneth' Haddock doesn't seem nearly as promising.

Actually, R164, Blair was gorgeous in the final few seasons as well. Lisa Welchel still looks terrific. The only time she wasnt the best was the few seasons she was chunky (but even then she was prettty) but the clothes they put her in werent things I thought worked for someone from her obscene wealth. But, she also had the right attitude about the producers sending her to a fat camp- she said she was hired to look a certain way and that's what she had to give them.

[quote] Think about all of the TV shows with multiple kids (except Brady Bunch): Partridge Family, even Family Ties. At least a couple of kids end up not very developed, character-wise.

I'll thay!

In that Heard Hearted Hannah clip, Loudon looks uncomfortably like Bonnie Franklin's........sister?

Lisa Welchel as Blair was an absolute perfection confection. Looking at these episodes now, she looks like an angel. And her personality was so big. Wow, she really was a stand-out. Great casting! I certainly wasn't thinking about all of this when I was eight years old.

After season 1, most of the fired girls appear in three more episodes over seasons 2 & 3. Except Molly, who only appears once in season 2, episode 2. Feliz Schacter appears in 5 episodes.

Then they call (save for Molly) come back for a Season 8 episode titled The Little Chill. It's retconned so they none of the 3 girls knows Jo, even though they'd shared several scenes together in seasons 2 and 3.

R181 I actually think Blair’s season 1 outfits were most on point for her character, especially circa 1980. I really don’t know what those two lesbians problem with the clothes were (kiddie porn? Really?)

Blair was the Suzanne Sugarbaker, Blanche Devereaux and Samantha Jones of her day.

[quote] Blair was the Suzanne Sugarbaker, Blanche Devereaux and Samantha Jones

Essentially, Blair was a vapid, Cluster B whore.

R187 Blair was most like Suzanne Sugarbaker, in that she was vain, egotistical but just like Suzanne wasn’t a slut. Both Suzanne and Blair (well in Blair’s case it was hypothetical as Lisa wouldn’t allow the character to have sex) saw sex as more of a means to an end of getting a rich husband.

Thats why I like Blair. She is pretty and vain but she does it for herself alone. Too often the pretty blond characters are bimbos or boy crazy, bht not Blair.

Regarding Blair: We are let in on a little secret early on in Season One, during Molly's episode about her dad's new girlfriend, that Blair is a poor little rich girl who has every material advantage but is starved for love. She tells Molly that she could only dream of having a father that cared about her feelings, or who would reach out and give her a hug.

Blair is a wonderful person with a good head on her shoulders and a big heart. Blair's preening, posing and self-admiration is an attempt to give herself the attention, validation and cheerleading that her parents never gave or will ever give. Which is a very self-loving instinct.

The fact that she delights in her appearance for the pure self-satisfaction of it, and just not in joyless service of the male gaze, is even more impressive.

I think she's tremendous!

Great analysis of Blair. Certainly more thought put into it than probably anyone in the writers room!

I seem to recall Blair being a homophobe in the first season.

Blair was only prejudice against ugly people.

Blair was bullying the tomboy in the first season for liking sports and hugging other girls. She then accused her of being a lesbian.

Blair was a cunt. Even Kimberly Drummond pointed that out in the pilot episode.

Girls, GIRLS!!

Blair was a victim of her upbringing. She quickly outgrew those prejudices and became an ally.

Watching the first episode. Wow Molly Ringwald is awful. Blair’s homophobia turns to lesbionic flirting when Jo arrives, as I recall.

[quote] Feliz Schacter appears in 5 episodes.

WHO?!

Felice's cousin from Spain.

I heard the first version of the theme song was recorded by Jose Feliceshachterano, but was rejected as too urban.

Felice Navidad!

Mazel!

I loved all of them. God bless the Facts of Life!

Nedra, you old dyke, you weren't even around when they were spun off.

What are you talking about? She the was Drummond's housekeeper after it was spun off.

Yes, AFTER.

Didn’t Charlotte Rae and Geri Jewell not get along.

Charlotte and Geri got along fine. I read Geri's book and she didn't have a bad thing to say about any of them.

I'm not drunk, I have cerebral palsy!

I remember this show vividly, although I was born after the retool, it seemed to be on any channel that would play rerun sitcoms. I remember both casts, and as a kid preferred the first cast, but recently rewatched and it's more and more Blair, Tootie, Natalie, blonde 1, blonde 2 and Nancy. By two thirds of the way into the first season you can see the writers relying on Blair, Tootie or Natalie to move the story along (Natalie being the perfect fit that she was had to have peeved the others with real resumes). Blair being the clear leader, I do think that Nancy could've worked with Blair and still left room for Jo, if they had Nancy go the 'wayward' route. How these actresses were all shocked that they were cut is a mystery, just looking at the trajectory of the first season, Blair, Tootie, and Natalie were the only ones who seemed to not be play-acting, were clearly inserted into any scene that needed 'authenticity'. Sue-Ann was awful, box-jawed, over-the-top, and not likable or relatable. She was basically the Jessie Spano of this show. While I preferred the original cast, I was also a child, so not exactly able to discern the better performers vs the ones I 'liked'.

When I was a kid watching this I never liked Jos character, and Blair embodied the aesthetic of the 80s, even with the extra weight, her hair balanced out enough where she was like the glamazons on magazines popular at the time, if they were younger and in prep school.

The clothes are ridiculous, but I also have photos of my mother in the late 70s wearing the super short shorts- they were definitely a hallmark of that era, but the girls went from overly tarted up to ridiculously over layered, frumps, which would you wouldn't have seen at a school like Eastland. (The type of school that would restrict your calories if you started looking unseemly for the tax brackets it represents) .

I remember Tracy Ullman appearing on Letterman circa 1985. She said "Have you seen Facts of Life lately, Dave? Those girls are going to crash though the ceiling!"

What did she mean. R211?

R212 That they were heavy girls

She meant they were in a lot of debt, R212.

R212, she meant their success was pushing them to spectacularly shatter the 'glass ceiling' which restricted actresses in that male-dominated industry.

We need updates. Will there be a reunion?